The Transforming Educational Opportunities For Young Carers conference is bringing together leading experts who are at the forefront of research, policy, and best practices for supporting young carers.

Our distinguished speakers will share the latest insights on how we can identify and support young carers in education, helping them not only thrive academically but also prepare for life beyond school. 

Discover the voices shaping the future for young carers and learn what steps you can take to make a difference.

His current interests include investigating the links between public service investment and persistent school absenteeism, supporting young carers’ financial literacy, and exploring how effective cross-sector working can lead to improved policy development.

Prior to joining CfEY, Conor held research and community engagement roles within the health and social care sector. Projects included research into vaccine hesitancy within Bangladeshi communities in West London, co-designing recommendations on what the future of home care and reablement services should look like in the City of Westminster, and exploring the implications of online triage services for people with disabilities.

Conor holds a BA in History and Politics from the University of Oxford and an MSc in History from the University of Edinburgh, where his dissertation explored the relationship between community reconciliation and tourism in post-conflict Belfast.

They include research on pupil absence, outcomes for children in social care, school choice and most recently, implementing a student premium for the 16-19 phase of education.

Prior to EPI, Emily worked at the Department for Education as an economist from 2002 to 2016. This involved various strategic projects and spending reviews, including advising education ministers on social mobility and developing the evidence base on the economic returns to education.

Prior to taking up the role in NAHT, Rob worked in four separate primary schools, in three different Local Authorities, across South Wales.

Throughout his career, he has maintained a professional and personal commitment to child-centred, needs-led education, and has always worked with a particular focus on how government policy and school communities can come together to combat pupil disadvantage.

Since the beginning of 2020, Rob has taken a leading role in a number of policy areas for NAHT, including SEND and Alternative Provision, Behaviour, Exclusions, Attendance, Safeguarding and Disadvantaged Pupils.

In March 2023, Rob wrote, and also presented, NAHT’s evidence to the Education Select Committee during their inquiry into persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils.

Rob’s partner, Caroline, is a School Leader and Foundation Phase teacher in Cardiff, and they have two children.

Kelly later advanced to the current position of Young Carer Operational Lead to deliver the Young Carers Strategy.

She has extensive experience in participation and engagement, particularly through collaboration with schools while developing the Young Carer Champions Model.

Kelly's team established a strong young carer partnership and introduced a Manchester-specific Young Carers in Schools Award. As a result of this approach, over 80% of Manchester schools now have a named Young Carer Champion.

In addition to school partnerships, the team works with all youth and play organizations, focusing on creating a long-term, sustainable support system for all young carers in the city.

A former young carer herself, Laura has also worked as a secondary school teacher and at MYTIME Young Carers, bringing a unique blend of personal and professional experience to her advocacy work.

Krista previously spent 13 years working in secondary school education as Deputy Head and Geography teacher and has an unshakable belief that no child’s destiny should be defined by their beginning.

Krista is currently completing a PHD at Bournemouth University, she is exploring effective strategies to increase young carers engagement in school.

This makes it as easy as possible for schools to support young carers and awards good practice. Adem joined Carers Trust in 2018 and has worked on various projects that support young and young adult carers.

Michelle plays and important part in the planning and co-ordination of the Young Carers Festival, which is the biggest gathering of young carers in the world and is held yearly in Hampshire.

Since 2016, Michelle has worked on the Young Carers in Schools programme, as the Young Carers Co-ordinator taking on a lead role in re-writing the award and working more closely with our partners at Carers Trust.

She has co-authored UCAS reports on student mental health, disabled students, and care-experienced students, and works closely with expert organisations to identify and remove barriers to access and success in higher education.

A former teacher, Nicola is strong believer in the transformative potential of education, and the importance of collaborative working to drive improvements for learners – whatever their background.

Outside of work, Nicola is a Trustee for the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL).

ick also sits on the Social Metrics Commission, which addresses the definition of poverty and its alleviation in the UK and is a trustee of a local charity.  Nick lives in Clapham and is a proud father of three teenagers.

Passionate about carer voice and co-production Claire has led on a number of projects across the region that have generated lasting change for carers including the #WeCareToo campaign, striving to champion change for young and young adult carers.

This work has involved working in partnership with education providers, breaking down barriers to identification and ensuring that policy and protocol are embedded to get carers the support they need at the right time.

Passionate about giving voice to those from disadvantaged backgrounds, including working with Northumbria University on the provision given to student carers.

She organises regular meetings to allow young carer workers to share good practise, resources and discuss areas of concern for young carers and young carer services.

Lorna has also been involved in the Supporting Student Carers to Excel work, in particular the Going Further and Going Higher awards for Colleges and Universities in Scotland.

We research what works, influence policy, develop new ways of thinking and help implement new approaches. Nicola leads L&W’s work to improve outcomes for young adult carers.

This includes our Driving Change in Further Education, and Higher Education, projects, which work directly with organisations to review and improve the support they offer to young adult carers.

Before joining the Office for Students she worked for more than 15 years in the higher education sector.

Most recently she was the EDI and Access and Participation lead at the University of the West of England where she developed and oversaw the Access and Participation Plan, led the Uni Connect team and led strategic university policies relating to a whole university approach to mental health and EDI.

She is also a governor of a large multi academy trust in Bristol and until recently was a trustee of a charity supporting young people from under-served and disadvantaged communities.

His work at Action for Family Carers saw him leading initiatives to provide vital support services, raise awareness, and advocate for the needs of young carers.

As an MP, Chris continues to champion the issues faced by young carers, drawing on his expertise to influence policies that improve support systems for these often-overlooked individuals.

They have recently completed their PhD on autism in human evolution, where evidence of caring in the past was used throughout, and begun work as an EDI Coordinator at UWE: Bristol, where they also support with the UWE Cares project alongside other diversity projects at the university.

Members of Carers Trust’s Young People's Working Group will also be speaking at the conference:

• Taylor
• Eden
• Alexandra
• Holly
• Oliver
• Freya
• Farzana